Spelling bee win surprises student

More than 100 students from 20 elementary schools entered a countywide spelling bee and vied for the first-place prize of a $100 Visa gift card.

The Sarasota Kiwanis Club hosted the event for third- and fourth-graders at the Lee Wetherington Boys & Girls Club on Friday.

"There isn't a spelling bee for kids in Sarasota County, so we realized there was a need," Kiwanis member and bee organizer Paul Gardner said. "It's an opportunity for kids to shine and to create lasting lifetime memories."

Wilkinson Elementary School fourth-grader Alan Curtis will certainly remember the event because he was so shocked that he won.

Water helped calm Alan's stomach, and his big plan for the $100 prize was to show it off to his brother.

The second- and third-place berths went to Tatum Ridge Elementary School students. Savanna Stillwagner won a $50 gift card for placing second, and Nicole Versovsky won $25 as the third-place prize.

Among the third-grade competitors, two of the top three spots went to Grant Collins and Devin Johnson.

Grant went head-to-head with the eventual winner — a student from Taylor Ranch Elementary School whose name is on a no-publicity list — for several rounds until "zucchini" finally knocked Grant out to give the other student the win.

To Grant's credit, he was able to correctly spell "spaghetti," which knocked two fourth-graders out of the competition.

Students from the Key Clubs at Sarasota and Booker high schools volunteered to sell pizza and drinks. Money raised was split evenly between them and will finance future service efforts.

There was no fee to enter the spelling bee. Although not yet an annual event, this is the third spelling bee Kiwanis has organized.

"There are kids here that this will be their thing," Gardner said.

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